I realize that I start every new post with “got a chance to work”, I guess I’m just trying to keep this gravy train of time going, cause so far the wife and extended family have been really helpful in freeing me up….hopefully that means they want this thing built as bad as I do.….
(yeah sure).
I needed to redo the curve support piece as it wasn’t quite even spacing on both sides, that and I mucked it up when trying to do a duplicate.
It actually took me quite a while to figure out how I was going to make 10 more of these things. Seemingly it was trivial, just double stick tape and use it as a template on the router. The problem is that this piece is so small that your hands end up being really close to the 30,000rpm spinning blade. I tried using push blocks but the piece would tilt as I put pressure and tried moving it around…..So I took a discarded straight piece that I had made a mistake on and drew out the 10 additional using the above as a trace. Rough cut with a jig saw:
Then placed the template on the outline to get the proper curves (put some blocking to support as the thin part liked to move):
This longer piece allowed me to move it around without worrying about my hands getting chopped.
Placed that on the table blocked by another piece (check out the double stick tape graveyard):
Busted out my new toy:
Needed to separate the last bit at the thin part, so I made myself a poor man’s band saw (jig saw clamped upside down):
Stupid amount of time to get this result:
Next problem was cutting some angles. I had already done all of my miter (beveled?) cuts, and two pieces weren’t aligning. The two pieces called for 62 degree angles. I thought I was being smart by flipping over the piece and cutting the opposite angle of 28 degrees. The reason I was doing this is the track saw (and really any circular saw), is limited to a 45 degree angle. Well I wasn’t smart and this didn’t work. You can see the angle I cut, and after fitting it to the paired piece, the angle I needed:
Gave up trying to figure it out and asked for help from my usual source (thanks again buddy). I was on the right track with opposite angle, but to get it you need to cut the piece from the top (or in the picture the left side edge).
Doing this however meant getting the pieces to sit up straight and not move.….. for all you pro’s you might want to look away:
This is the best I could come up with. The top pieces is a sheet of 4’x8’ that is still mostly unused. The piece touching it is actually the back door to the machine that I already cut, which miraculously lined up with the height of the plywood on the saw horse. Double stick taped to the door is a piece of sacrificial plywood, and double stick taped to that is the test piece I was using for getting the cut. Lined up the track saw to the edge, then offset 2.5mm to account for the thickness of the blade, and voila, finally got my angles:
Was excited to throw some pieces together:
Didn’t have quite enough clamps to get everything fitting tightly, but it was cool nevertheless. You can see at the bottom the curve on the sides. Behind that coin door panel is where the curves will attach to the base, and provide the support for the coin door to curve at the bottom……getting there.